DNC/15″/mike1st/mark2nd
By HOWARD FINE
Staff Reporter
L.A.’s bid for the 2000 Democratic National Convention, which reportedly hit a snag earlier this month over concerns about private funding, now appears back on track.
On Dec. 17 and 18, two officials connected with L.A.’s bid met with an attorney from the Democratic National Committee on nailing down commitments that would come from the city. Both sides say the meeting was productive and that discussions are continuing.
“Those were definitely constructive talks,” said DNC attorney Joe Sandler, who met with L.A. City Legislative Analyst Ron Deaton and attorney Cary Davidson.
Davidson, a partner at the L.A. campaign law firm Reed & Davidson, agreed that the talks were “very constructive. I think we have already worked out most of the concerns.”
Those concerns center on the fact that the $35 million to $40 million bid is not coming from the city itself, but from a private group, L.A. Convention 2000, which is co-chaired by SunAmerica Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Eli Broad, DreamWorks SKG principal David Geffen and Freeman Spogli & Co. partner William Wardlaw.
At a Dec. 7 meeting between L.A. Convention 2000 officials and members of the DNC’s site selection committee, concerns arose over the degree of city involvement. Reports surfaced last week that several members of the site selection committee had walked out of a lunch at the Los Angeles Public Library. But late last week, three L.A. participants in that meeting called the reports untrue.
Sources with ties to the DNC said the site selection committee wanted to see more specific information on what the city would be contributing, beyond vague promises to provide security and transportation services.
“The DNC is used to signing deals with cities, not private entities. They wanted to see the city’s commitments written down on paper,” one source said. “This is not something that is insurmountable.”
California Democratic Party chairman and DNC site selection committee member Art Torres agreed.
“Quite frankly, as I have talked to my fellow site selection committee members, the overwhelming support is still for L.A.,” Torres said. “Once they get over the hurdle that they are dealing with a private entity, things will be OK.”
On the transportation side, sources said, such services as extra buses to shuttle convention participants and media from their hotels to the convention site are being discussed, as are street closures and traffic planning.
The lack of details on the city’s role contrasted with specific promises of public financing from the other two finalist cities, Boston and Denver. Half of Boston’s $32 million bid would come from that city and the state of Massachusetts ($8 million from each), while $6 million of Denver’s $34 million bid would come from that city.
DNC site selection committee officials played up their concerns about L.A.’s bid during their visits to Denver and Boston in the week following the Los Angeles visit. But one official involved with Boston’s bid said he wasn’t sure if those concerns were genuine or a ploy to pressure L.A. to sweeten its bid.
Reports also surfaced last week that L.A. was losing favor because it is the home of Monica Lewinsky and a 1996 campaign fund-raising incident involving Vice President Gore at the Buddhist temple in El Monte. But those reports were strongly denied by all sides.
Meanwhile, local officials are pointing out that L.A.’s bid is modeled after the highly successful private fund-raising effort that Peter Ueberroth and other business leaders put together to host the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
